Power management is one of the most important areas of electronic design. With the proliferation of portable devices and complex, multi-functional integrated circuits, a variety of regulated supply voltages are generally provided to various circuits within a microchip or in a plurality of microchips.
Noise suppression, level control, drop-out control, efficiency are some of the aspects of power supply design taken into consideration. Moreover, highly sensitive modern electronic devices require a high degree of accuracy and control on the part of the power supply. A PMUIC may provide control of power ramp-up and ramp-down for particular circuits, level shifting for digital circuits, programmable supply voltage for circuits that operate in multiple power modes (such as low power operation, stand-by modes), and the like.
Furthermore, a PMUIC may include programmability features coupled with monitoring. For example, charging current of a battery may be monitored and supply voltage varied between slow-charge, fast-charge, and trickle-charge modes. Commonly available PMUIC's provide a plurality of supply voltages that may be managed by external signals or by the PMUIC. Generally, each supply voltage is independent from others.
Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.